Catholic church robbed in Sterling Heights

Sterling Heights police are looking for two men who stole the donation box on three separate occasions from St. Rene Groupil Catholic Church, 35955 Ryan Road.

“What type of people would steal from a church that has a special collection box set aside to help the poor?” asked Sterling Heights Police Lt. Luke Riley.

Riley said the men, who are white, 20 to 25 years old and slender, entered the chapel of the church and took the donation box that contained an undetermined amount of cash.

Riley and a secretary at St. Rene said money is put into the box every day so it is impossible to determine the exact loss.

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A video tape secured by Sterling Heights detectives from the church shows the one thief was present on all three dates and was accompanied by another man at 9:20 p.m. on Jan. 21. The other thefts occurred at 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 20 and 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 22.

“It appears from the surveillance video that the suspects entered the chapel at St. Rene and knelt down for a short time,” Riley said. “They then got up, grabbed the cash box and left the church.”

Riley said there were other people inside the chapel during the thefts. They didn’t notice anything unusual.

One thief had dark hair, wore a horizontal striped long sleeve shirt, dark blue hooded jacket with NEW YORK on the front in white letters and tennis shoes. The other man wore blue jeans, black jacket over a gray hoodie and black shoes.

Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to call Sterling Heights police at 586-446-2801 or Crime Stoppers at 800-773-2587 to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward.